


Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme - Chapter One

by CavalierWolfe



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Reikuri, Romance, reihisu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 04:41:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21048476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CavalierWolfe/pseuds/CavalierWolfe
Summary: The Marleyan attack on Paradis is utterly routed, over before it begins. Barely escaping with their lives, three Warriors flee into the wilderness and come across a certain farmhouse....





	Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme - Chapter One

_Have her find me an acre of land..._ _Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme..._  
_Between the sea foam and over the sand...A_ _nd then she'll be a true love of mine..._

Reiner could not recall in that instant, why the song should keep forcing its way into his head. He did remember the first time he heard it; it was the night of the festival, and a young soldier from Albion had been singing it. His voice was clear and pretty, and he had not seemed to mind when Zofia had called him out on how the lyrics didn't make sense. Reiner had been digging in his pockets for some extra coins to help satiate the appetites of his four young charges when he had heard the exchange, and turned quickly; fully expecting to have to rescue the girl for whom sarcastic interludes were something of a hobby.

''How can you find an acre of land between the sea and sand? That's stupid! Have you got the lyrics wrong?''

The soldier, who wore a splendid red jacket, had only laughed. Reiner relaxed.

''You can't, little lady. That's the point. Love imposes impossible tasks, but a true lover will attempt them all the same.''

Zofia reflected on this, raising her slice of pizza to her lips and taking a bite, chewing thoughtfully. She swallowed.

''It's still stupid.''

The soldier laughed again, and had raised his hands in mock surrender. He turned to Reiner, his eyes flicking briefly to the crimson armband, before he gave a small smile and the briefest of nods.

''She yours?''

''In a manner of speaking.''

''Look after her.''

_Look after her._ How those words hung now, like a piece of bread stuck in the throat, too dry to swallow. He wondered, when he had time to wonder such things, if he was truly capable of ever keeping anyone safe. Liberio was supposed to be safe, and then HE had come, and the festival had exploded into a tapestry of death and pain. Once more rendered helpless to prevent the deaths of those he cared about, made useless by enemies he had not wanted to make and could not help but love, which made the grief twist firmer into his heart. He wondered where the kind soldier with the clear voice was now, if he had even survived the night. Somehow, he doubted it. Those that deserved to live long happy lives rarely did.

And those like himself, who deserved death, were forced to continue moving forward in some grand cosmic joke he had yet to find the punchline of.

''Reiner?''

Her voice startled him, snapping him out of his reverie; he turned back to the girl in the bed, her long golden hair loose about her shoulders, the nakedness of her chest apparent to him in the room's starlit glow, a shaft of lunar light slashing across her expressive blue eyes, full of love and concern. His heart melted, as it always did.

''Sorry, I...I couldn't sleep.''

She understood. She always understood. Sometimes he hated that; sometimes he just wanted her to yell at him, scream and kick and punch until she hated him as much as he hated himself. But there was no hate in her, and when she slipped out of bed, and walked across the bare wooden floor to curl her arms about him from behind, resting her cheek into his back, he realised that this was not one of those times.

She made him hate himself less, and he wasn't sure if that was something he would ever deserve.

Had it really been so many months ago now? The assault on Paradis, ostensibly to cripple the reborn 'Eldian Empire' before it truly found its feet, though in Reiner's eyes it was about rescuing Gabi and Falco; had failed quite spectacularly, with the Marleyan assault encountering heavier resistance than anticipated. Their airships crippled and their soldiers slaughtered, the assault had been blunted on the anvil of Eldian resistance. Had they been betrayed? Most likely it was merely Zeke's knowledge of Marleyan tactics that had made such a surprise assault hopeless to begin with.

There had been nothing for it then, but to go to ground, regroup, and hopefully come up with another plan.

That was so many months ago now...How long had it been, a year? How long was it he had left?

''I was just.....'' He began, but trailed off when she kissed his shoulder blade and nuzzled her cheek into his back. His eyes flickered closed.

''It's OK.'' She whispered. She placed her hand onto his arm, and requested he turn to face her with a small tug. When he did so, she smiled gently up into his eyes. She had to crane her head back quite a bit to meet his gaze, and their disparity would have been absurd were it not obvious how deeply fond of each other they were for all that.

He nodded down to her...She understood. She always understood. She took his hands then, both of them in hers, and walked backwards towards the bed, pulling him along with her gently...fans of light from the starry sky outside the farmhouse bathed her small breasts in a luminous glow. ''I told you to always tell me if you have nightmares.''

''I didn't want to wake you.'' He protested feebly, and was rewarded by a petulant looking scowl, before she put both her hands onto his chest, fingers spread, and shoved him bodily onto his back on the bed. His unresisting form hit the mattress with a thud and a squeal of cheap springs, and despite himself, he grinned up at her, his cheeks suddenly flushed red. ''What was that for?''

''For being foolish. You woke me anyway when you climbed out of bed. So what have you really achieved, besides worrying me?''

he opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again when she climbed onto the bed, and sat across his thighs. They were both naked, and though he was more used to this fact now than he had been during their first time and thus his behaviour was not that of a teenage boy when confronted by his first naked willing woman, he was still dumbstruck by her; she rested atop his legs, pinning them down, and he felt himself stirring. She smiled demurely, and he stirred faster.

''Do you love me?'' She asked simply, her fingers tracing over the curve of his abs, absent mindedly tracing the muscles, hard and kept that way from months of farmwork, her neatly cut fingernails gliding across the skin in a way that sent soft prickles of pleasure up his entire body, from his belly to his scalp.

''You know I do...''

''Then act like it, and talk to me. Be with me.'' She whispered, her own cheeks slightly coloured by this time, and her soft lips parted slightly, even when she was not speaking. His eyes flicked to her breasts, and he saw that her nipples were hard. It was not a cold night.

She carefully slid herself further up his body, her hands settling onto his chest for a moment, smiling down into his eyes as she pressed his manhood down against his lower belly with her weight. Gently, she slid herself back and forth on it just a few times, before she adjusted her position, and took him inside of her. She went slow, because she liked it best that way. Her eyes flickered closed and she let out the faintest gasp as he filled her. Her hands slid up to his shoulders, and then to his neck and finally his cheeks, her thumbs stroking over his cheekbones as she gazed down into his eyes. His hands found her thighs, and held them there, as if worried she might drift away as if some dream. He gave a few deep breaths himself as he adjusted to the feel of her around him, and he kissed her on the mouth then, his lips pressed to hers in a sweet and eager movement. She could feel his desperation, his need for her approval, and she gave it to him willingly.

''Reiner...'' she whispered softly, half gasp and half whimper as the kiss broke. He lay back on the goose down pillow beneath his head, gazing up at her through hazy eyes as his strong hands roamed her smaller form, from thighs to hips, his thumbs brushing her belly. She began to ride him then, her thighs, stronger than appearances would suggest due to her years soldiering with her companions, eased her body up and down atop him; she gasped each time she hilted him, and her fingers tightened on his shoulders where her hands had settled. Her breasts gave a small jiggle each time she drove down, and the sight of that alone was near enough to get him to finish inside of her there and then...But he resisted. He held on. For Reiner always did long to be the hero.

_Love imposes impossible tasks_  
_Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme_  
_Though not more than any heart asks_  
_And I must know she's a true love of mine _

He understood then. He understood the song, in the moment of clarity, the little death at the peak of pleasure, when the mind was clear and focused. He understood as his love arched back, he understood as she screamed his name and as her thighs squeezed his waist. He understood as her hair flicked backwards in a stream of golden tresses and her body shuddered atop him...And he understood as he let himself go, his own cry of pleasure a strangled sob of bliss he still didn't feel he deserved....

It is not in the succeeding of the tasks. But in the willingness to attempt them for one you profess to love.

''Where the hell are we?'' Asked Porco, still clad in the remnants of the Garrison uniform he had been wearing since the failed assault three days prior. ''Reiner, you lived here, surely you know where we are?''

Every time Porco said Reiner's name, he managed to get it to rhyme with 'useless' somehow. It was a talent he possessed.

Reiner did not deign to reply. The area was unfamiliar to him, and besides, the girl he carried on his back was starting to become heavy again. Pieck was not normally weighty, but they had been walking for days with very little food. They could not stop, but she was too badly hurt to walk on her own. She always recovered slowly, and slower still as of late. Not for the first time, he wondered how long she had left. She was still unconscious, and the longer she stayed that way, the angrier and more frustrated Porco seemed to get. He did not know what it was they had between each other, but they were his comrades despite everything, and he would keep them both safe if he could. He had considered using his titan form for speedier travel, but it was too risky. They were being hunted as it was, and any sign of titans in the newly cleared-out Paradis would give their position away. So they walked. And walked.

And walked.

''I said-''

''I heard you. No I do not know this area, but look around you. This is farmland. There will be buildings here, a place to rest and help Pieck. Just....Just look for a farmhouse or something.''

Porco nodded. He could be remarkably civil and helpful when Pieck's health was on the line, even to Reiner. And when they spotted the farmhouse barely ten minutes later, the relief was such that they actually smiled to one another. For a moment at least.

''It will be dark soon. We'll stay here for now, and approach at night. We don't know what's waiting for us in there.''

Porco opened his mouth to protest....but closed it again. He kicked the dirt with a boot and sighed, before nodding, and sat down cross legged in the long grass. His eyed flicked to the sky, as if willing the sun to go down faster by filthy looks alone. Reiner carefully eased the girl in the webbing around to his front, and lay her down on the grass carefully before he sat himself. He watched Porco unscrew the cap of his water canteen, and dribble a few drops onto the girl's lips, his other hand resting beneath her head to keep it slightly raised. He watched the tender display for a few moments, before his eyes turned to the farmhouse. It was far away of course, but the longer he stared, the more he thought he could see movement. A figure, on a rocking chair beneath the overhanging porch. He thought it was a woman, but he could not be certain.

Whoever they were, they would have to cope with some uninvited guests...at least for a short while.


End file.
